The Healing Touch

THE ALL INDIA INSTITUTE of Medical Sciences (AIIMS), New Delhi, was established in 1956 by an Act of Parliament to serve as the nucleus for nurturing ex­cellence in medical education and all as­pects of healthcare. It is recognised in In­dia and globally as a medical institution that best combines excellent medical ed­ucation with cutting-edge research and quality healthcare. The contributions of AIIMS have been recognised in the form of a score of 100 on all parameters in the National Institute Ranking Framework (NIRF), among other rankings. AIIMS is also the only medical institution from India in the top 1,000 degree-granting institutions of higher education world­wide, according to the Centre for World University Rankings.

Since its inception, the institution has trained thousands of specialists, super-specialists, PhD scholars and al­lied health and basic sciences experts, including nurses and paramedical pro­fessionals. New departments, namely, the Department of Rheumatology, Geriatric Medicine, Pulmonary Medi­cine & Sleep Disorder, Plastic and Burn Surgery and Department of Onco-An­aesthesia and Palliative Medicine have been created. New Doctorate of Medi­cine (DM) courses on addiction psychia­try, cardiac surgical intensive care, criti­cal care medicine, infectious diseases, onco-anaesthesia, paediatric oncology, reproductive medicine, medical genet­ics, paediatric cardiology, paediatric nephrology, paediatric pulmonology and intensive care, pulmonary, critical care and sleep medicine, therapeutic medicine, and vascular radiology have also been started. Various Master of Chirurgiae (MCh) courses like breast, endocrine and general surgery, gynae­cologic oncology, head-neck surgery and oncology, minimal access surgery and general surgery, plastic and recon­structive surgery, trauma surgery and critical care have been initiated. New fellowship courses, namely, uro-oncol­ogy, bariatric and metabolic surgery, renal transplant surgery, paediatric cardiac anaesthesia, epilepsy surgery and functional neurosurgery, spine surgery, skull base and cerebrovascu­lar surgery, paediatric neurosurgery, skull base surgery, minimal invasive urology, geniotourinary reconstructive surgery, thoracic radiology, paediatric radiology, minimally invasive gynae­cological surgery, blood and marrow transplantation, stroke, cleft and cranio­facial orthodontics, neuro-critical care, aortic surgery, maternal foetal medi­cine, and the Centre for Holistic Medi­cine and Yoga have also taken root. We also continued to play a mentorship role for other AIIMS countrywide and conducted entrance examinations and online counselling for selection of stu­dents to the MD/MDS/DM/MCh, MBBS and BSc (Honours) Nursing courses. In the year 2021-22, we enrolled 2,016 postgraduate and 1,162 undergraduate scholars in various courses.

AIIMS provided education to nu­merous visiting trainees from within the country and abroad. Annually, the institution organises over 300 work­shops, symposia, conferences and train­ing programmes in collaboration with various international agencies like Har­vard, Stanford, University of Michigan, Erasmus University Rotterdam, Osaka University Japan, Monash University, the George Institute for Global Health, Australia, etc. The institute provides tele-education to students in colleges within India and abroad, particularly to under-served African nations.

The efforts to better understand, treat and prevent disease are supported and enhanced by our extraordinary bio­medical research enterprise. In 2021-22, the research community at AIIMS con­tributed significantly to scholarship through its leadership in innovations and publications. Over 609 funded research projects were conducted and the institute attracted extramural re­search grants of more than `101 crore in cutting-edge areas. In addition, intra­mural grants of `5 crore were disbursed to talented young faculty members for undertaking 173 new research projects. During the year 2021-22, the faculty and scientists of the institute published over 2,485 research papers in national and international journals and over 330 monographs, books and chapters in books.

Essential to the enterprise of dis­covery and learning at AIIMS is our Re­search Cell's constant drive to develop effective new methods for educating the next generation of researchers and scientists.

The AIIMS hospital has been able to maintain high quality stan­dards while providing cost-effective services to a large number of pa­tients. The AIIMS main hospital and its centres—Cardiothoracic and Neurosciences Centre (CN Centre), Jai Prakash Narain Apex Trauma Centre (JPNATC), Dr BR Ambedkar Institute- Rotary Cancer Hospital (BRAIRCH), Dr Rajendra Prasad Centre for Oph­thalmic Sciences (RPCOS), Centre for Dental Education and Research (CDER), National Drug Dependence Treatment Centre (NDDTC)—have a total bed strength of 2,421. During 2021-22, AIIMS attended to about 25, 33, 814 outpatients and 2, 02, 831 inpatients and performed over 1, 44, 471 surgical procedures at opti­mal patient care service parameters with average bed occupancy of about 69.8 per cent, average hospital stay of about 9.8 days; and at a low net death rate of about 2 per cent. AIIMS continues to advance the delivery of healthcare within and outside India, particularly in South and Southeast Asia.

AIIMS is currently in a phase of sustained expansion. Within a span of two years, the inpatient capacity of AIIMS will be doubled. The country's largest "National Cancer Institute" is being set up at Badhsa in Jhajjar district of Haryana. It would have a facility of 710 beds. Also, the mother and child block, a new OPD block, a new surgical block, the National Institute of Ageing, and an emergency and diagnostic block, are at various stages of development. The propos­al for expansion of the Jai Prakash Narayan Apex Trauma Centre with additional capacity of 1,841 beds has also been approved. It will include centres for digestive diseases, endo­crinology, otolaryngology, spine, bone marrow transplantation and kidney transplantation.

AIIMS took a number of steps to make the process of seeking care more patient-friendly. The country's first Affordable Medicines and Reli­able Implants for Treatment (AMRIT) programme was launched at AIIMS. Medicines and implants for manage­ment of cancer and cardiovascular dis­eases will be sold at highly discounted rates (50-90 per cent) under the pro­gramme. AIIMS, together with the Sashastra Seema Bal Officers' Wives' Association, has augmented its night shelter facilities so as to accommodate 570 outstation patients. As directed by the Department of Official Language, Ministry of Home Affairs, AIIMS has started converting all its forms, OPD cards, papers, stamps and other re­lated official stationery to a bilingual Hindi-cum-English format for the ease of patients who cannot read Eng­lish. The institute, in collaboration with Delhi Police, also successfully created a green corridor to facilitate organ transportation.